Suspension fixture device for trunks and the like.



} 0. T. 15 E. E. WILT. SUSPENSION FIXTURE DEVICE FOR TRUNKS AND THELIKE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, 1908.

1,000,654; Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

6661 5" JZIZl/lbiO/ d0 U/zar/ws K'i/il v G. T. & E. E. WILT.

SUSPENSION FIXTURE DEVICE FOR TRUNKS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 24, 1908.

Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. T. & E. E. WILT.

SUSPENSION FIXTURE DEVICE FOR. TRUNKS AND THE LIKE,

APPLICATION FILED 11017.24, 1908.

f Jtya x [1.11m FUJ 4 SHEBTSSHEET 3.

' Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

C. T. dz E. E. WILT.

SUSPENSION FIXTURE DEVICE FOR TRUNKS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED N0V. 24, 1908.

1,000,654. Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

In!ll,I"IIllaalluollnllllulllllrllllmm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES 1'. WILJ. AND ELMER E. WILT, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TOTHEM- SELVES, COPARTNERS DOING BUSINESS UNDER THE FIRM-NAME OF CHAS. T.WILT,

OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

SUSPENSION FIXTURE DEVICE FOR TBUNKS AND THE LIKE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 15, 1911.

Application filed November 24, 1908. Serial No. 464,338.

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that we, CHARLES T. WIL'r and ELMER E. WILT, citizens of theUnited States, and residents of Chicago, in the county of Cook and Stateof'Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSuspension Fixture Devices for Trunks and the Like; and We do herebydeclare that the following is a full, clear, and exact descriptionthereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to theletters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of thisspecification.

This invention relates to wardrobe trunks -or other compartments whereingarments are adapted to be contained in a suspended position, and tosuspending fixture devices so used with respect to such compartments asto permit the suspending devices, with the garments hanging thereon, tobe withdrawn from the compartments and to be properly supported in awithdrawn position.

The invention relates further to certain details of construction adaptedto these and similar fixtures, and the invention consists in the mattershereinafter set forth and more particularly pointed out in the appendedclaims.

The construction herein shown is generally like the construction setforth inour prior U. S. Lettersv Patent Number 880,058, granted February25th, 1908, and the vpresent invention seeks to improve and simplify theconstruction, facilitate its use, and to otherwise improve devices ofthis same general character.

The fixture device is herein shown as applied to a trunk of that typeknown as a wardrobe trunk, but may be applied to other compartments forcontaining articles of clothing and the like, or to other suspending andsupporting devices.

As shown in the drawings :Figure 1 is a perspective view of a trunkembodying our invention, with the swinging lid or section open. Fig. 2is a longitudinal section of the trunk showing the suspending deviceswith drawn therefrom. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section taken on line 33of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical. section taken on line 4--4 of Fig. 5looking forwardly. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken online 5-5 of Fig. 4;. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical section taken online 6-6 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a fitting constituting a portion of thehinge which connects the extension rail to the fixed rail. Fig. 8 is aplan view partially broken away of a support for the fixed rail and alatch for locking the extension rail to said support. Fig. .9 is a planview of said support with-the latch removed. Fig. 10 is a fragmentaryview illustrating the forward end of the extension rail and itssupporting standard. Fig. 11 is a longitudinal sectional viewillustrating the extension 'rail and the parts of the standard. whichare telescoped therein in the position which said parts occupy whencontained within the compartment. Fig. 12 is a side elevation of one ofthe hinge members for connecting the extension rail to its standard.Fig. 13 is a side elevation of the other hinge member associatedtherewith. Fig. 14 is a hug mentary axial section of the outer end ofthe extension rail. Fig. 15 is a perspective view illustrating. thelower member of the standard removed from the upper member. Fig. 16 is atransverse section taken on line 161(i of Fig. 10. Fig. 17 is a detailsection on line 1717 of Fig. 19, showing a detail of the hangercarriage. Fig. 18 is an end view of the carriage. Fig. 19 is a sectiontaken on line 19-19 of Fig. 18. Fig. 20 is a section taken on line 20-20of Fig. 19. Fig. 21 is an axial section, broken away, of the barconstituting part of the carriage.

As shown in the drawings, the trunk in which our invention is embodiedembraces two compartments or section 20, 21 which are hinged together toclose one on the other in a familiar manner. The section 21 may befitted with drawers or trays 22 in the usual manner of trunks of thischaracter. The other section or con'ipart-ment has a larger space toreceive articles of apparel or the like suspended from suit-able hangerslocated at and supported in the top of the trunk. The larger compartment20 may be provided at its open side with a follower 23 of familiar form.

In accordance with one feature of the invention, the upper end of thetrunk is of gabled form, the top wall comprising oblique members 25,- 25which meet to'form a peak.

26 designates a ridge piece which is attached to said top wall membersbeneath the ridge thereof, andto said ridge piece the parts of thesuspending fixture device contained within the trunk may be secured. Theupper end wall of the smaller compart ment 21 of the trunk is likewiseformed to correspond to and fit upon the members 25. This arrangement ofthe top wall of the trunk has been devised to prevent the trunk beingset on its upper peaked end, in which the suspending devices are mountedand from which the articles of clothing and the like are suspended onhangers 28, as shown in Fig. 3, thus avoiding liability of the clothingfalling down and being wadded in the top of the inverted trunk. Moreover, the oblique .members of the top wall bear such relation to thehangers as to prevent the hangers slipping off their supporting carriagein case the trunk is inverted. This construction also has the furtheradvantage of saving weight and material in the trunk body and ofproviding an exceedingly strong and durable top wall construction toresist blows to which the wall may be subjected.

The suspenslon fixture devices are made.

as follows: designates a fixed rail arranged horizontally in the top ofthe trunk beneath the ridge piece 26. The rail is supported at its endsin blocks 31 and 32 fixed to the under side of the ridge piece as byacross straps or bars 33, 34, the latter being arch-shaped with itsintermediate part fitting between the forward block and ridge piece, andthe ends thereof fit beneath and are attached to the oblique members ofthe 7 top by rivets or the like. The said forward block 32 is fixed tosaid arched bar 34 by means'of bolts 35 extending through flanges 36 atthe sides of the block and throu h the central part of the bar, asshownfin ig. 4, The fixed rail is shown as. made tubular and is slottedat its lower side to receive parts of a carriage suspended thereby, thecarriage having rollers or other bearing arts for engagement with tracksformed wlthin the tubular rail. The block 32 is provided I with ahorizontal opening to receive the tubular rail and at its lower sidewith a slot in line with the slot of said rail.

37 designates an extension rail, which is .hinged or otherwise connectedto the forward end of the stationary rail and is adapted to extendhorizontally therefrom and be supported in a horizontal position by asuitable standard designated as a Whole by 38. The extension rail isalso shown as made tubular and-as'slotted at its lower side in bularrail and is arranged to be moved outwardly on the extension rail-37, asto the dotted line position indicated in Fig. 1. The construction of thecarriage which supports the hangers 28 will be hereinafter described.

Referring now to the devices for hinging the tubular extension rail tothe tubular stationary rail, said parts are made'as follows: The innerend of the extension rail 37 is provided with a fitting 43 (Figs. 4, 5and 7 which comprises a tubular part 44 adapted to fit over the innerend of the extension rail and laterally separated hinge lugs 45, 45which fit in overlapping engagement with the sidesof the fixed rail supporting block 32 and are hinged to said block by means of hinge screws46, 46 extending through said lugs into the sides of the block. In orderto lock the screws from turning in said block, locking pins 48, 48 areinserted upwardly through openings in the lower side of the block andare arranged to bear or bind on the sides of the screws at the innerends thereof so as to prevent said screws from turning. The fitting 43is provided with a slot 49, in line with the slot of the tubularextension rail and with the slot of the block 32, which affords acontinuous slot through which the arms 4.1 of the carriage may move from'thefixed to the extension rail when the latter is in its horizontalposition.

Referring now to the construction of the standard 38 and the manner ofconnecting the same with the outer end of the extension rail, theseparts are made as follows: The said standard 38, comprises twotelescopic members, to-wit, an upper tubular member 50 and a lower innermember 51, which latter extends upwardly a distance into the lower endof the upper tubular member. The lower member 51 is connected at itslower end with the crow foot base lower member extending "into anupwardly opening tubular branch of said fitting 53. The arms 54 of thebase are fitted in the radial tubular members of said fitting. The saidarms of the crow foot base are provided at their ends with headed plugs55 to form a bearing for the arms. The shanks of said plugs enter theouter ends of the 'arms' and the parts may be interlocked together bypressing or crushing :the metal of the tubular arms into the shanks inthe manner shown in Fig. 10.

The upper member 50 of the standard is hingedly connected with the outerend of thetubular extension rail 37 by means which permit the saidstandard to telescope into said rail. Such hinged connection is made asfollows Contained within the outer end of the tubular extension rail isa plug 57 which relatively fits within a bushing 58 that in turn fitsclosely in the end of the extension rail. The plug 57 is provided inrear of the bushing 58 with a tight fitting between laterally separatedhinge lugs 64,

64 on the end of the stud 57. Said hinge lugs are connected together bya hinge pm 65 extending through openings in the-overlapping parts of sadlugs. The huge connections thus described are of such dimensions thatwhen the standard is swung outwardly into alinement with the extensionrail 37 the said standard may be telescoped into the extension rail inthe manner clearly indicated in Figs. 1 and 11.

The lower member 51 of the standard 38 is arranged to be telescoped intothe upper member 50 thereof preparatory to telescoping the standard intothe extension rail and arranging the parts to beplaced within thecompartment or trunk. The lower end of the upper tubular member 50 ofthe standard is provided with a sleeve or collar 66 constituting anannular shoulder which is adapted .for engagement with the outer end ofthe extension rail when the standard is telescoped thereinto to limitthe inward telescopic movement of the said member of the standard intothe extension rail. The lower or inner member of the two part standardis held in its telescoped and extended positions, relatively to theupper tubular member, by locking devices arranged as follows: The saidlower member, which may be made solid or of tubular construction, isprovided at longitudinally separated points with annular grooves 68, 69,the former within the tubular upper member and the latter near thebottom of said lower member. The lower end of the tubular member of thestandard carries a lever'70 which is pivoted toa stud 71 fixed to saidtubular member and is provided with a pivotally mounted with the upperannular groove 68of the.

lower member of the standard. A spring 7 3 acts on a laterally extendinthumb piece 74 of the lever to normally old the lever in position toproject the locking pin or bolt 72 to its innermost osition. The saidlocking pin 72 engages t e upper annular groove 68 and locks the twomembers of the standard extended in position to support the extensionrail. The said locking pin or stud likewise engages the lower. groove 69when the lower member of the standard is telescoped within the uppermember thereof and locks the members in their telescoped positions, asshown in Fig. 11. The said lever 70 is formed at its upper end with ahook or detent 77 which, when theupper tubular member of the standard istelescoped into the outer end of the extension rail 37, is adapted toengage over the shoulder formed by the collar 60, before referred to,and surrounding the outer end of the rail. Thus the said latch. lever 70is arranged to look all the parts in their telescoped or collapsedpositions.

In Fig. 10 the standard and the outer end of the extensionrail are shownin the position which they occupy when the rail is extended to support acarriage thereon, and in this position the locking pin or bolt carriedby the latch lever 70 engages with the upper annular locking groove 68of the lower member of the standard to lock the standard extended. InFig. 11 the said lower portion of .the standard is shown as telescopedinto the upper tubular portion, and the latter in turn telescoped intothe tubular extension rail. Vhen the parts occupy these positions, thesleeve or collar 66 is engaged with the end of the extension rail tolimit the tel'e-. scoping movement of the tubular member of the standardthereinto, and the lower end of the tubular member of the standard isengaged with the fitting 53 of the crow foot base. In these positions ofthe parts it will be seen that the extension rail and its standard arecontained within a longitudinal space of a length but little greaterthan that of the extensionrail itself, and that said rail may be readilyswung downwardly into the forward or open side of the trunk compartmentin the position indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2 and in full lines inFig. 1. It will also be observed that the single spring pressed lever 70carries locking devices by which the several telescopic parts are lockedin their collapsed positions, this feature being an extremely simple andconvenient one.

The grooves 68 and 69, or one of them, may be provided at'it's bottomwith a notch 80 (Fig. 16), which is adapted to be engaged by the innerend of the locking pin'or bolt 72 and to thereby avoid tendency of thelower member of the standard rotating relatively to the upper memberthereof.

By reason of the fact that the plug 57, constitutingone of the membersof the lungs which the standard is hinged to the extension rail, iscapable of rotating within the gext'ension' rail, it follows that theconnec- 1 tionbetween the standard and extension rail is such astoafford a range of universal movement of the standard about the outer endof the extension rail. This feature of the, construction is advantageousinasmuch as lack of space immediately in front.of the trunk maysometimes render it inconvenient to swing the standard upwardly ordownwardly in the vertical plane of the rail, whereas it may be readilyswung down-- wardly or upwardly at one side of such vertical plane.

An advantage of making the standard of two members telescopic one withinthe other lies in the fact that the telescoped members": of the standardmay be swung upwardly --or .downwardlyv from a horizontal position thefixed rail when said extension rail occuwith less free space in frontofthe trunk than in cases where the main body of the standard is of asingle or continuous piece. That is to say, when working in closequarters to telescope the standard into the ex1- tension rail, the lowermember of the stand? ardmay first be telescopediinto the upper.

pies its horizontal or operative position. Such rigid connection of therails is useful in trunk constructions having the supporte ing standards38, inasmuch asthe structure,

as a whole, is more stable than if such rigid connection is not present.In the use of the fixture for a stationary compartment or of a shortextension rail for a relatively heavy trunk, the lock between the fixedand stationary rails may be sufiicient in itself to hold the extensionrail in its horizontal position. In either event, the'o eration of thelock is the same. The lock is made as follows: 85 (Figs. 3 to 9,inclusive) designatesa latch that is located above the forwardsupporting block 32 of the stationary rail. 7 This latch is shown asmade of fiat metal and is provided with two' arms 87, .87 which arehinged at the rear side of the block through the medium of hinge-pins88, 88

that extend horizontally through the flanges 36 of the block 32 andlaterally into said arms. The upper face of the block is formed toprovide a transverse recess 89 between the flanges 36 and said flangesare transversely cut away to provide notches 90 to receive the armsofsaid latch. The said latch extends at its outer end beyond the block 32and is formed to provide an upwardl inclined finger piece 91-by which itmay vided, between the finger piece and a cross piece 92,-integral withthe latch arms, with a socket 93 which is adapted to fit over a lockinglug 94 of the extension rail when the latter is in its horizontalposition. The socket also fits over a central lug 95 formed betweenthe-notches 90 of the forward flange 36"of the block 32. The latch isheldwith e manipulated. Said latch is proi its forward end depressed bymeans of a s ring 96 which is attached to the rear ange of the block byascrew 97 and bears at its forward end against the upper side of thecross piece 92 of the latch. The relation of the socketed portion of thelatch with respect to the locking lug 94 is such that when the extensionrail is'swung upwardly the said lug 94 passes beneath the forward end ofthe latch and raises the same and springs into the socket, whereupon itis automatically locked in rigid connection with thestationary or fixedrail. The cross piece 92 of said latch, bearing as it does against therear side of the lug 95, relieves thepivot pins 88 of thelatch fromstress due to the load carried by the extended extension rail, andprovides a construction of ,great strength, and capable of sustaining aheavy load on the extension rail. When the 1 extension rail'is to vbeswung downwardly, the latch is released from the locking lug 94 by"engagement of the finger with the finger piece 91 of the latch to raisethe latch upwardly.

The hanger carriage 40 herein shown consists, in general terms, of ahorizontal bar having at its ends the upwardly directed arms 41,referred to, which extends through the slots of the rails and hingefittings and carry at their upper ends the bearing rollers 42 beforereferred to. The said carriage is of special construction, as willappear from an inspection of Figs. 16 to 19, inclusive, and is madeasfollows: The horizontal bar of the carriage comprises a sheet. metaltube 105' and a wood or other fibrous filling or core 108, preferablymade coextenshank and the other end the arm. The

shanks are sharpened to be readily driven .into the core and the shankmembers are the shank to be readily driven into the core, but whichprevent the withdrawal of the shanks from the core, as clearly shown inFigs. 17 and 19. \Vhen the core is made corespect to each other. Thisgreatly simpli-' fies assembling the device. The hanger arms may in thismanner he applied to a finished tube without in any way marring thefinish of the tube, and when the core is coextensive in length with thetube, said tube maybe made comparatively light, while maintainingsutlicient strength of the earriagc bar as a. whole.

The rollers 42 are applied to the arms 41 in the same general manner asshown in our aforesaid prior patent, and the features of theconstruction need not be further herein described.

In practice the bolt or pin 72 will be released from the lower annulargroove 69 of the lower member of the standard when the fixture iscontained within the compartment, so that the base fitting 53 may dropslightly away from the lower end of the upper tubular member of thestandard. Thus if a blow or shock be brought upon one end wall of thetrunk'its force will not be transmitted through the solid standard andextension rail structure to the other end, or to the hinged connectionsbetween the extension rail and fixed rail. If the telescoped structurewere such as to afford a solid connection between the top and bottom endwalls such end thrusts would tend to crush the end walls and to derangethe hinge connections between the fixed and extension rails.

lVhile we have described our invention with considerable particularityboth with respect to its construction and application, it is tobeunderstood that We do not limit the invention in its several phases tothe specific construction and application shown except as hereinaftermade the subject of specific claims.

We claim as our invention 1. A trunk or compartment having a rigid upperend and being open at the front, said upper end being higher along itslongitudinal median line than at eitherside thereof, and a suspensiondevice within said upper end and arranged beneath said longitudinalmedian line thereof.

2. A trunk or compartment having a rigid gabled upper end wall and o enat the front, and a suspension device wlthin said gabled end andarranged beneath the ridge of said wall and parallel thereto.

3. A trunk or compartment having a rigid gabled upper end wall and openat the front, and a suspension device within said gabled end andarranged beneath the ridge of said wall and parallel thereto and movableoutward through the open front.

4. A trunk or compartment having a gabled upper end, a ridge piecebeneath the meeting margins of the inclined memlicrs of the upper endwall and attached to said members, and a suspension device carried bysaid ridge piece.

5. A. trunk or compartment having a gabled upper end and a suspensiondevice within said gabled end and arranged heneath the ridge of said endand parallel thereto, embracing adetachable hanger the ends of which arearranged closely adjacent to the inclined members of the gabled end, forthe purpose set forth.

6. In a suspension fixture device, the combination with a fixed rail andits support, of an extension rail provided at one end with a fittinghaving hinged engagement with said support, and a latch mounted on theupper side of said support and provided beyond the support with asocket, the extension rail fitting being provided with 'a lug arrangedto automatically engage with said socket when the extension rail isswung to a horizontal position, the said support being provided on itsupper surface with alu over which the socket fits and having bearingwith the latch in rear of the socket.

7. In a suspension fixture device, the combination with a stationaryrail and its support, of a swinging extension rail provided with afitting having hinged connection with said support, said fitting andsupport. having lugs on their upper sides which are brought intoabutting engagement when the extension rail is swung upwardly, and apivoted spring pressed latch on the upper side of the support having anotch adapted to fit down over the abutting lugs of the support andfitting to lock the extension rail in its horizontal 7 position.

8. In combination with a receiving compartment, of a suspension devicefixture comprising a fixed horizontal rail therein, a tubular extensionrail connected to the fixed rail and arranged to be folded into thecompartment, a standard supporting the outer end of the extension railand having-telescopic connection therewith, and a latch carried by saidstandard arranged to engage a shoulder on the extension rail to lock thestandard in its telescoped position.

9. In a suspension fixture device, a fixed horizontal rail, a tubularextenslon rail connected therewith-and a standard hinged to andsupporting the outer end of the extening telesco ic engagement with eachother, and a sing e manually operable locking device for locking themembers of the standard telescoped and for locking the standard telescoed 1n the extension rail.

10.. n a suspension fixture device, a stationary horizontal rail, atubular extension rail connected thereto and a standard for supportingthe extension rail arranged for telescopic engagement with the tubularextension rail, said standard comprisin an upper tubular part and alower part fitting with telescopic engagement therein, and a swinginlatch lever mounted on the lower end of te tubular member of thestandard and having lockin devices arranged for locking the standartelescoped in the tubular extension rail, and for locking the lower endof the standard in telescopic relation to the upper tubular memberthereof.

In testimony, that we claim the foregoing as our invention we aflix oursignatures in the resence of two witnesses,- this 17th .day of ovemberA. D. 1908.

CHARLES T. VVILT. ELMER E. WILT.

Witnesses:

W. L. HAIL, GEORGE R. WILKms.

